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Friday 27 November 2009

Iso-propylethylphenylphosphine

That's the stuff I was exposed to on Tuesday.

The good news is that it appears it is extremely odorous. Worse than H2S. According to the RSC, only 0.5g were spilt, leading to concentrations on the order of 10 parts per billion. The smell was very strong in a volume of air about 10,000 cm metres. It would have been detectable over a volume possibly ten times that.

1 part per million would only have contaminated 68 cu metres under ideal conditions. Only 1/360 of a mole escaped.

This was enough though to cause people to flee the buildings because of the overpowering stench. Enough to cause rashes on some, headaches and dizziness amongst others.

The not so good news is that P(C3H7)(C2H5)(C6H5) is a relatively new molecule, and no studies have been conducted as to its toxicity. Breakdown products when exposed to air, water, and UV would include Phenol and Benzene. Carcinogens. Fortunately not dangerous at that concentration.
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5 comments:

  1. RadarGrrlSunday, November 29, 2009 12:02:00 am

    On the lighter side, maybe you've got some sort of new superhuman talents you can now use to fight crime with, just like in the comics. Bring on the spandex!

    (Heh...the word verification it's asking me to type in is 'fartica'!)

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousSunday, November 29, 2009 6:32:00 am

    It appears that Nicky is at it again. http://www.cgblog.org/2009/11/24/coast-guard-plagued-by-breakdowns/#disqus_thread

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousSunday, November 29, 2009 11:46:00 am

    I imagine that a short, acute dose is probably not an issue beyond a bad headache. Chronic exposure would be a different story.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousMonday, November 30, 2009 5:55:00 pm

    @Imogen

    Of Nicky or the chemical?

    M

    ReplyDelete
  5. mythusmageThursday, December 03, 2009 4:56:00 pm

    Could this new stuff chase hagfish off a whale corpse?

    Chapcha: And how do you make a sylish remark?

    ReplyDelete

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